Overnight lane closures scheduled for LIE, DOT says

Overnight lane closures on the Long Island Expressway have been scheduled to start this weekend in Huntington and in Brookhaven towns for bridge improvement work, state transportation officials said.

From 10 a.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday, two eastbound lanes and a westbound one will be closed near the Carlls Straight Path Bridge in Dix Hills, between exits 51 and 52, officials said.

Next Friday, April 24, two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane will be closed, they said.

The closures are taking place so crews can complete the installation of new box beams at the overpass, they said.

The work will result in a new, wider span featuring "larger shoulders and sidewalk," as well as a new center turn lane, state transportation officials said. The new bridge also will provide greater clearance, they said.

Starting Sunday for the next three weeks, east- or west-bound LIE lanes or both will be off limits in Holbrook by Exit 61, the Patchogue-Holbrook Road overpass, state transportation officials said.

Eastbound closures have been scheduled between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, officials said, and westbound closures, if needed, between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Monday through Friday.

After three weeks, the closures will be intermittent through 2016, officials said.

Workers will be repairing damage caused by a truck hitting the bridge during the winter and also to continue the $9.6 million rehabilitation on the bridge, officials said. The improvements will include a new structural bridge deck, wider shoulders, safer sidewalks and landscaping, authorities said.

The center medians will be temporarily removed to accommodate construction work but they and the plantings will be restored, officials said.

Transportation officials said the bridge will remain open during construction, with lane closures shifting. Currently, two southbound lanes and a northbound one are open, they said.

Single lanes are being closed on the LIE north and south service roads between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the sidewalk on the east side is closed, officials said.

Also, the DOT Friday announced road repair work on Saturday on Route 25A/North Country Road in the area of Routes 25/25A and River Road in Smithtown, between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

"Traffic will be shifted to different travel lanes to accommodate the repaving work and one narrow travel lane in each direction will remain open," the DOT said in a statement. "Intermittent brief closures may also be utilized to accommodate positioning of construction equipment."